How to delete a folder that name ended with a dot (“.”)?
Here’s a solution to this problem: rd /s “\\?\C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop\Annoying Folder.”
winapi
How to read a value from the Windows registry
Here is some pseudo-code to retrieve the following: If a registry key exists What the default value is for that registry key What a string value is What a DWORD value is Example code: Include the library dependency: Advapi32.lib HKEY hKey; LONG lRes = RegOpenKeyExW(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, L”SOFTWARE\\Perl”, 0, KEY_READ, &hKey); bool bExistsAndSuccess (lRes == ERROR_SUCCESS); bool … Read more
Can I download the Visual C++ Command Line Compiler without Visual Studio?
As said, there is no way to do that. You need to download the entire 4-6GB+ bundle. MS deployment is a botch. There is no need, however, to actually install everything. If you’re up to some manual installation, you can extract individual components from the bundle and put them all in a more organized directory … Read more
Is gettimeofday() guaranteed to be of microsecond resolution?
Maybe. But you have bigger problems. gettimeofday() can result in incorrect timings if there are processes on your system that change the timer (ie, ntpd). On a “normal” linux, though, I believe the resolution of gettimeofday() is 10us. It can jump forward and backward and time, consequently, based on the processes running on your system. … Read more
Dynamically load a function from a DLL
LoadLibrary does not do what you think it does. It loads the DLL into the memory of the current process, but it does not magically import functions defined in it! This wouldn’t be possible, as function calls are resolved by the linker at compile time while LoadLibrary is called at runtime (remember that C++ is … Read more
Generating a unique machine id
I had the same problem and after a little research I decided the best would be to read MachineGuid in registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography, as @Agnus suggested. It is generated during OS installation and won’t change unless you make another fresh OS install. Depending on the OS version it may contain the network adapter MAC address … Read more
How do I print to the debug output window in a Win32 app?
You can use OutputDebugString. OutputDebugString is a macro that depending on your build options either maps to OutputDebugStringA(char const*) or OutputDebugStringW(wchar_t const*). In the later case you will have to supply a wide character string to the function. To create a wide character literal you can use the L prefix: OutputDebugStringW(L”My output string.”); Normally you … Read more
How to make an OpenGL rendering context with transparent background?
After spending some reputation on a unsuccessful bounty to get some help on this issue, I finally realized how complex was the problem I was interested in. The few individuals that have accomplished this task don’t share much. During my research I found different ways to achieve what I was looking for. One of the … Read more
How can I get a list of all open named pipes in Windows?
In the Windows Powershell console, type [System.IO.Directory]::GetFiles(“\\.\\pipe\\”) If your OS version is greater than Windows 7, you can also type get-childitem \\.\pipe\ This returns a list of objects. If you want the name only: (get-childitem \\.\pipe\).FullName In Powershell 7, the second example \\.\pipe\ does not work (see this known bug), so you will have to … Read more
Exporting functions from a DLL with dllexport
If you want plain C exports, use a C project not C++. C++ DLLs rely on name-mangling for all the C++isms (namespaces etc…). You can compile your code as C by going into your project settings under C/C++->Advanced, there is an option “Compile As” which corresponds to the compiler switches /TP and /TC. If you … Read more